Thunderstorms & Thumping Hearts
by Anggiemon
Summary: Ally has another fear apart from being on stage, thunderstorms. Who will come to her rescue when she gets stuck at home with the power out?


**HI GUYS! It's been such a long time since I've updated anything. Tee-hee, writers block I guess. :P For those of you who follow Summer & Romance, chapter 5 is almost done and will be up in a few days, at the latest a week. Anyways, here's a little one-shot I've been working on. I got the idea during, well, a storm. It hit me like a lighting bolt, haha. See what I did there? :P So yeah, ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin & Ally.**

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The sound of thunder erupted from the sky. Lightning flashed as a petite brunette hid under her sheets, curled up into a ball. A nasty thunderstorm was going on outside and Ally was terrified. It has always been one of her fears, ever since she was a little girl. Ally hated the fact that she was so afraid. Why does she have so many fears? Being on stage, thunderstorms, she felt like a coward. Suddenly a flash of lightning is seen followed by a loud boom leaving Ally whimpering. At times like these she would curl up with her dad and everything would be alright. Unfortunately, her dad was out and is probably unable to get home soon due to the rain. She would call Trish or Austin or Dez but the storm is rendering any communication in her house useless.

The storm went on for half-an-hour with no signs of dying down. A bright flash lit up the sky and suddenly it was dark, really dark. Ally peeked from under her covers and saw darkness. She wobbled over to the light switch with the blanket still covering her. She flicked the switch a couple of times but it was no use, the room was still covered in darkness. The house was pitch black, the storm was thrashing violently and she was all alone.

Ally was on the verge of tears, when suddenly, amongst the storm, she hears a thumping noise downstairs. Different scenarios start to run through her mind. It could be just a tree branch crashing against the window or it was a small animal. Or maybe it was a burglar trying to steal something or someone coming to kill her! Ally shivered as she contemplated going downstairs and checking it out. But the darkness was making it real hard for her to navigate her way and so she decided to stay in the safety of her room. Going back into bed, she hears footsteps going up the stairs. Her body stiffens as she holds her breath. More scenarios start to run through her head. It could be a stray cat that somehow managed to get into the house. But the steps were too loud to be a cat. The footsteps definitely belong to a person. Her heart starts racing faster as the steps get louder. The footsteps stop and she sees her doorknob slowly turning. Ally grabs the nearest thing, which was her alarm clock, and as the intruder enters she immediately flings the clock at the person. He grunts and falls backwards with a loud thud. Ally approaches the mysterious man cautiously, the dark making it difficult for her to see his face. It wasn't until a flash of lighting lit up the room did she realize who it was.

"Austin!" Ally hastily went to his side, shaking him in hopes of waking him up. "Oh my God, are you okay?!"

Austin stirs and brings his hand to his head. "You've got a good arm Ally."

"Sorry! I thought you were a burglar or a murderer. What are you doing here?" Just as she finished asking a loud boom of thunder echoed through the house and startled Ally. She quickly buried her face in Austin's chest. He held her close, comforting her. They stayed like that for a while until Ally let go.

"I'm really glad you're here Austin." Ally smiled for the first time since the storm started.

"I'm glad you're safe. You're dad called me saying that you couldn't be contacted. He was so worried. There was no way he could check up on you because of the storm. I told him I'd check up on you and he told be where the spare key is."

Ally looked at him, shocked. "You went through a crazy thunderstorm to check up on me?" She didn't notice it before but Austin was soaking wet.

"Of course Ally. You're my best friend; I would do anything for you. This storm is a piece of cake." He gave her a thumbs up and his signature smirk.

Austin's words make Ally melt. He is such a sweetheart. "That's really sweet Austin," she couldn't stop smiling at Austin's kindness, "thank you. You should change out of those wet clothes before you catch a cold." Ally walked over to her dresser and opened the bottom drawer. She took out a towel and some clothes and handed them to Austin. "Here, it's a good thing you tend to leave your clothes here."

Austin grinned and took the clothes. "Thanks Ally. Be back in a sec." He gave her a wink and headed for the bathroom.

Ally was glad that someone was here with her, that Austin was with her. Something about the way that he held her made her feel less scared. After a few minutes, Austin finally emerged from the bathroom.

"Sorry that took a while, it's kind of hard changing in the dark." He looked out the window. "It's still pouring hard. Do you have any flashlights?"

"There should be some in the kitchen."

"Let's go then." They made their way to the stairs. Before Ally could step down, Austin grabbed her hand and held it tight. "Careful, it's really dark."

Ally just nodded as they carefully made their way down the stairs. The warmth from Austin's hand made her blush a little. They reached the bottom step and entered the living room, it took some time for their eyes to adjust to the darkness. With their hands still connected, they headed for the kitchen.

"It should be up in the cupboard." Ally let go of Austin's hand reluctantly, the warmth slowly disappearing. She reached up to grab the handle and grunted.

Austin chuckled. "Too short?"

"No," Ally was on her tippy toes trying to reach the handle, "the cupboard is too tall."

"Here, let me." Austin easily opened the cupboard and took out the flashlight as he smirked triumphantly.

Ally rolled her eyes and smiled. "You're just freakishly tall."

"And sexy too." Austin winked and Ally playfully punched him in the arm. "Let's check the breaker, it probably tripped. Where is it?"

"The basement."

Austin and Ally, hands connected once more, headed for the basement. It was darker and somewhat spookier. Ally clung onto Austin's arm, her body pressed up against his. She was so close that he could smell her hair. It smelt like strawberries and sunshine. It was a smell that perfectly captures Ally essence. Sweet like strawberries and radiating like the sun. Austin completely lost focus; it wasn't until Ally spoke up that he was snapped back to reality.

"It's really dark down there, I can't see a thing."

"If you want, you can wait here while I go check it out."

"No, I'm more afraid of being alone."

"Don't worry; I'll protect you from the evil monsters that lurk around."

Ally gripped Austin's arm tighter. "Don't even joke about that, I'm serious."

"I'm serious too; I'll always protect you Ally. From anything, storms, monsters, you name it, I've got your back."

They momentarily gazed into each other's eyes, Ally touched by Austin's words and Austin mesmerized by Ally's innocence. After a while they looked away with a hint of blush across their face.

Austin cleared his throat in looked ahead. "We should get going."

"Right."

Step by step, they made their way down into the basement. Even with the flashlight on, there was still an eerie feeling to the place. Ally held onto Austin tighter, the storm outside still raging.

"It should be by that shelf over there." Ally pointed to a dusty old bookshelf.

Austin approached the breaker; he flashed the light on it and then handed the flashlight to Ally. He flicked the switch but nothing happened. He flicked it again a couple of times before finally retreating. "It's not working. I guess the power's out from the source."

"Oh no, and the storms getting worse too."

"Don't worry; I'll stay with you as long as it takes for this storm to die down." Austin's voice was sincere and Ally suddenly felt like she was floating on clouds.

They decided to go back upstairs to Ally's room and wait for the storm to clear. Walking back, there was silence between the two, but it wasn't an awkward silence. There's never an awkward silence between Austin and Ally. There are times when they would just sit in front of the piano in the practice room and not talk. They've gotten so close over the years that nothing can make things awkward between them.

"So what do you want to do 'till the rain stops?" Austin belly flopped onto Ally's bed.

Ally giggled at Austin's childishness as she took a seat beside him. "We can't really do anything with the power out."

"Hmm, how about we just talk?"

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?"

"Hmm, I don't know." Austin started fiddling with some strands of Ally's hair.

"Oh I know." Ally stood abruptly and headed for her neatly organized desk. "How about we work on a song? I've got a couple of ideas written down."

"Good idea, we don't need electricity to use a guitar." Austin grabbed Ally's guitar as she sat on her couch with her songbook in hand. "Alright, so what do you have?"

"I've got the melody down but I don't have any lyrics yet."

"Well, let's see if I can fill in the blanks." Austin took a look at Ally's songbook then started to strum a few chords.

_**There are times when you feel you're at your lowest**_

_**And times when everything feels wrong**_

_**You just want to curl up into a ball**_

_**Hiding yourself from the world**_

_**Don't forget that you've got me, because**_

_**I'll go through storms**_

_**I'll jump off a bridge**_

_**I'll give up everything**_

_**Than see you suffer**_

_**Just know that I've got your back**_

The song ended and neither said another word. Personal space was something Austin and Ally did not know well. They were sitting facing each other, eyes locked. Music was something that really connected them. It's a connection that no one but Austin and Ally could understand, it's magical. Austin suddenly felt like leaning in and closing the gap between them. He felt like it was a crazy thing to do but he also felt like it was the right thing to do. Ally seemed to have caught on and closed her eyes. The thumping of their heart was loud and fast. Everything around them seemed to be frozen, it was just them.

"AAAALLLLLYYYYYYY!"

Or so they thought. At the sound of the yell, Austin and Ally immediately separated and stood up. At the same time the power came back.

"That sounds like, Dad?" Ally peeked out the door to see her dad frantically running up the steps.

"AAAAALLLLLYYYY! Are you okay?!" Lester ran towards Ally and flung his arms around her.

"I'm fine dad. Austin came over to keep me safe."

"It was nothing really." Austin grinned, still a little confused as to what just happened. "Well, looks like the storm cleared and the powers back. I guess I should be heading home now."

"Don't be silly, why don't you stay for dinner?"

Austin looked at Ally who smiled at him. "Sure, I'd love to Mr. Dawson."

"Great! I'll get started, you two set up the table. The storm sure made me really hungry." And without another word, Lester headed quickly headed for the kitchen.

"What a night, huh?" Austin chuckled and Ally smiled to the ground.

"Next time there's a storm, I won't be scared. Because I'll know that you've got my back, Austin."

"Always, Ally."

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**Tell me what you think? :)**


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